The Boogie
Woogie Foundation is a non-profit organization established to foster research
and to increase the general public knowledge of the preponderance of evidence
indicating an East Texas origin for Boogie Woogie. The Boogie Woogie
foundation was also established to raise consciousness with regard to the many
ways that Boogie Woogie has evolved and continues to influence the world after
its creation. For example, early Boogie Woogie recordings are the unequivocal first recorded examples of
what was later called "Rock and Roll." Consequently, Boogie Woogie has
been rightfully called the "Father of Rock and Roll." Indeed,
the influence of Boogie Woogie on Rock-and-Roll and popular music worldwide is
greater than that of Blues in general. Put another way, Boogie Woogie can
be regarded as
the kind of Blues that has had the most influence on popular music throughout
the world. Although profound in their own right, the slower, less-upbeat
styles of Blues have not had this magnitude of influence. Moreover, the continuing
influence of Boogie Woogie on popular music in general is undeniable.
Boogie Woogie continues to be performed as a form of jazz, and has influenced
classical composers throughout the world, including
Conlon Nancarrow
(United States), Nikolai
Kapustin (Russia), and
Louis Andriessen
(The Netherlands). In a powerfully-worded testament of the demonstrated
capacity and potential of Boogie Woogie to influence classical composers, Gyorgy Ligeti wrote
the following on June 28, 1980: "If J. S. Bach had grown up with blues,
boogie-woogie, and Latin-American music instead of the protestant choral, he
would have composed like Nancarrow, i.e. Nancarrow is the synthesis of American
tradition, polyphony of Bach and elegance of Stravinsky, but even much more: he
is the best composer of the second half of this century."

Boogie Woogie
has also influenced cultures throughout the world in ways that are not directly
related to musical expression. For example, the visual art of
Piet Mondrian was
profoundly influenced by the sound and other qualities of Boogie Woogie music.
Mondrian stated, "True Boogie Woogie I
conceive as homogenous in intention with mine in painting." Moreover, Boogie Woogie has had a substantial influence on the languages of
various cultures, as exemplified by widespread use of "Boogie" and "Boogie
Woogie" as marketing terms for various products and in contexts that frequently
do not denote music, and which bear little relationship to the earliest meanings
of the terms "Boogie" or "Boogie Woogie."

Despite
numerous examples that could be cited, the breadth and depth of
Boogie Woogie's influence over space and time is generally not well known.
By failing to recognize the extent of the influence of Boogie Woogie and by not giving credit
to those who created Boogie Woogie, false historical accounts have been promoted (often
unknowingly) that dishonor those African Americans who created Boogie
Woogie in dangerous environments that literally put their lives
at risk. For example, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's persistence in
promoting the false claim of Jimmy Yancey as "the progenitor of Boogie-Woogie
piano" disrespects the very people that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame purports
to honor.

On page 183 of
the classic 1939 book, Jazzmen, William Russell concluded his chapter on Boogie
Woogie with the following statement:
"Although the Boogie Woogie was
originally dance music, it transcends any secondary function as mere
accompaniment to words or movement and today has come to be recognized in its
own right." The Boogie Woogie Foundation continues Russell's
tradition of capitalizing "Boogie Woogie," and like Pine Top Smith (except when
quoting another source), spelling
"Boogie Woogie" without a hyphen.

At 2 pm on Sunday, September
2, 2018, in Marshall, Texas, a formal dedication ceremony will be held for a
historical marker that has been placed by the Texas State Historical Commission.
The marker celebrates Marshall, Texas as The Birthplace of Boogie Woogie. The
Texas Historical Commission cast the historical marker as a result of the
historical research of John Teninison, who was the first to conclude that the
Marshall, Texas area was the Birthplace of Boogie Woogie. The marker has been placed near the historic
Texas & Pacific Depot. Of all buildings that currently exist, the Texas &
Pacific Depot in Marshall is the most symbolic to the earliest Boogie Woogie
performances, as the depot lies at the geographical center of gravity from which
Boogie Woogie spread along the Texas & Pacific tracks running North, East, and
West from where the depot is located.

The marker
dedication ceremony
will take place at 2 pm at the northeast corner of the Ginocchio Hotel. The
dedication ceremony for the historical marker is free and open to the public.
During the ceremony, both John Tennison and marshall resident, Jack Canson will
speak. After the ceremony, John Tennison will be joined by Icy Monroe, Rafael
Espinoza, and Benjamin Cohen to present a concert and educational program
titled: "Boogie Woogie: The Roots and Their Many Branches." The musical program
will take place inside the Ginocchio Hotel and will explore the vast influence
Boogie Woogie has had on diverse genres of music. As of August 27, 2018, tickets
to the musical program have sold out. However, the PA system that will be used
for the concert and education program will be loud enough that even those
standing outside the hotel by the side walk should be able to hear the content
of the musical program.

I recommend listening to the 2012 interview
with musician Jools Holland and musicologist/author Peter Silvester. This
interview was broadcast on September 18, 2012 on Radio 3's "Piano A to Z"
program on the BBC. This series is available as a free podcast. In
the second episode ("B is for Boogie-Woogie") of this series, Peter Silvester
joins the consensus of other experts when he states:

“The main areas where
it first appeared were in Texas in the Piney Woods region where there were many
lumber camps. And they used to have a barrelhouse there for entertaining
their work force. Now, to this barrelhouse came itinerant pianists,
particularly at weekends when they were relaxing – lots of drink, lots of
dancing, lots of whoring going on, and I have heard that often people were
killed, so there were pretty exciting times down there. It eventually
moved into Chicago, St. Louis, and other urban areas because of the mass
migration of African families, because of the poorer situation in the South, and
the pianists went with them."

The Regional Music Heritage Center presented the "Nancarrow Homecoming"
concert.

This milestone concert marked the first public live
performance of Conlon Nancarrow's Boogie Woogie Suite in his home town of
Texarkana.

The concert was performed on Saturday, December 17, 2016 at
7:00 pm at the Silvermoon Theatre in Texarkana, Texas.

Marshall, Texas: The Birthplace of Boogie Woogie

Pictured above are the 12 miles of Birthplace
Way (short for "Birthplace of Boogie Woogie Right of Way").
These 12 miles of railroad track from
Mile Marker 14 westward into Marshall utilize the original right-of-way put
into operation possibly as early as late 1858, but no later than 1859. These 12 miles of right-of-way have
been in continuous operation ever since the railroad track on this 12 miles of
right-of-way was completed from the railroad track that had been built from Swanson's
Landing on Caddo Lake. (Technically, Birthplace Way is slightly under 12 miles
since the last
western-most "mile" being slightly under 1 mile.)

The
May/June 2011 issue of "The Medallion," the magazine of the Texas Historical
Commission, featured Marshall, Texas on its cover. This issue of "The
Medallion" has a beautiful photo of the Harrison County Courthouse on its cover,
which states: "Marshall's Mystique: Railroad, African American Legacies
Shape Northeast Texas City's Heritage." The following two articles
appeared in this issue of "The Medallion."

(The
NPR website contains audio from the broadcast, the transcript, as well as video
and audio clips from Wade Goodwyn's interviews.)

NPR first became interested in the Marshall
story after hearing about the Boogie Woogie Christmas Concert featuring the
internationally distinguished Seeley & Baldori and Marshall’s own Omar Sharriff,
held Dec. 17, 2010, at the Marshall Visual Art Center. NPR’s Southwest Bureau Chief
Wade Goodwyn traveled to Marshall when he learned about the city’s efforts
to relocate Sharriff to his old hometown to honor him as its
Artist-in-Residence. Before the Christmas concert, Goodwyn interviewed Sharriff, Bob Seeley, Bob
Baldori, John Tennison, mayor Buddy Power, and several other Marshall officials. Jack Canson, co-director of the city’s Birthplace of Boogie
Woogie Project, said, “It is gratifying to see how our Boogie Woogie shows are
playing to packed houses and attracting national attention. And it's wonderful
that people are interested in the story of Omar Sharriff - our living link to
this great heritage.”

Poster from Omar
Sharriff's Boogie Woogie Homecoming Concert on June 11, 2010 in Marshall, Texas-- Originally born “David Alexander Elam” on March 10, 1938, in Shreveport,
Louisiana, Sharriff grew up in Marshall, Texas, where his father, Tom Elam (born
1893), was
the first person that Sharriff ever heard play Boogie Woogie. Sharriff's
concert represented a historical turning point, namely that of formally recognizing and publicly supporting the
continuing performance of Boogie Woogie in Marshall, Texas, the Birthplace of
Boogie Woogie.

In 2009 the American Music Research Foundation
received the Gold Remi Award (pictured above) for its documentary titled,
"International Boogie Woogie," based on footage from AMRF's 7th Annual Motor
City Blues and Boogie Woogie Festival in Detroit, Michigan in 2005. At
time of receiving the award above, AMRF Director John Penney commented,
"It’s
particularly appropriate that we received this award in Texas, the birthplace of
Boogie Woogie." The “International Boogie Woogie” documentary
contains solo and trio performances by four internationally acclaimed pianists
at the 7th Annual Motor City Blues & Boogie Woogie Festival in 2005, including
Switzerland’s Sylvan Zingg, France’s Philippe LeJeune, and Canadians Kenny
“Blues Boss” Wayne and Michael Kaeshammer. Wayne emigrated from California
to Vancourver, Canada, and Kaeshammer from Germany to Toronto, Canada.

From the
Riverwalk Jazz
Radio Program "Chicago's Jazz Age Melting Pot: Hot Jazz, Boogie Woogie & the
Blues" - (Broadcast November 19, 2009):

When speaking about Boogie Woogie and "The
Fives" in October, 2009, in San Antonio,
Texas, pianist and Dean of the Frost
School of Music at the University of Miami,
Shelton Berg,
stated:

"Well David, it's really interesting to know that
Boogie Woogie, which became such a craze
all over the world, really got its start in the piney woods of East Texas.
Having lived twenty years in Texas, I'm, you know, pretty proud of that."

and

"And this song, 'The Fives,' was one of the ones that you couldn't be a Boogie
Wooogie piano player if you didn't know "The Fives." It was pretty much
understood that you had to know this song. All of these songs are based on
the 12-bar Blues. And like the Blues, they're
influenced very much by the sound of the
train. So I think in all Boogie Woogie songs, you can hear the sound of
the train."

Pictured above are
John Tennison and
Axel Zwingenberger at Axel's Bosendorfer
grand piano in Vienna, Austria, April, 2006. Zwingenberger is among
the most prolific and influential of modern-day performers, composers, and scholars of Boogie
Woogie. Consequently, Zwingenberger has inspired new generations of Boogie
Woogie players all over the world, such as in Japan where Boogie Woogie pianist
Keito Saito (born in 1978) specifically cites Axel Zwingenberger as an
inspiration in the liner notes to Saito's 2008 album,
Boogie Woogie Far East.

Boogie Woogie House Party, Ohio, August 6, 2010

Pictured above from left to right are Rob Rio,
John Tennison, Bob Seeley, and Rudy "Blue Shoes" Wyatt on August 6, 2010.

"Dear John, Just wanted to let you know how much impressed I
am by your fantastic research and great and accurate writing about boogie woogie.
I became aware of your work via reading the FB post of mr Canson. It is a
great big pleasure reading your work, which I am doing now. Kindest
regards, Martijn Schok" -- July 27, 2011

"This is by
far the most intense history of a music genre I've ever seen. I am
thrilled with the content, and the photos, some of which I have never seen,
are excellent - what a great story!" -- George Frayne (AKACommander Cody),
September 23, 2008

"FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a great sight of history. I thought I
knew the history of Boogie Woogie until I visited this history sight. I
actually didn't know 'squat'!" -- Ed "Mick" Heyden, September 5, 2006

"It [the www.bowofo.org website]
is the most complete and thorough account of the history of Boogie Woogie I have
ever seen!" -- Ed "Mick"
Heyden, September 6, 2006

"Your article
is fantastic, with a lot of details! It's hard to find good works about
Boogie Woogie history. I have read "A left hand like God", a few articles
on internet, and listen to a lot of recordings. I think it's easier to
learn boogie woogie/barrelhouse technique when you know its history and its
pianists' recordings." --
Sebastien "Slim" Wood, Montreal, Canada, May 22, 2006

"Some of the best information on Boogie
Woogie and its origins can be found in a website established by John Tennison,
also known as 'Nonjohn,' who is planning a book on the subject." -- Henry Wolff, Jr.,
Victoria Advocate,
September 21, 2005. Click here to see full article.

Potential Sources of Early Evidence
for Those Conducting Boogie Woogie Research -- by John Tennison

1.
Oral histories (including eyewitness accounts) given and transcribed after the fact of the events being studied
-- Oral histories date the playing of Boogie Woogie at
least as far back as the early 1870s in East Texas.

2.
Written documentation dated at the time of events being studied --
An unequivocal, 12-bar Boogie Woogie bass line using a
"Texas & Pacific" bass figure (AKA "The Cows") was published at least as early
as 1915 in the sheet music of Artie Matthew's "Weary Blues (AKA "The Weary Blues").

3.
Photographs -- I do not know of any photographs that
indicate a playing of Woogie Woogie prior to the dates in Item 1 and 2 above.
Although a photo could document that a piano is being played, it would likely be
difficult to know what style was being played from a single photograph.

4.
Sheet Music and other written musical notation -- See Item
2 above.

6.
Audio Recordings -- The earliest audio recording(s) of
which I know that contained unequivocal Boogie Woogie bass figures are the two
takes of "Weary Blues" by Artie Matthews, as performed by the "Louisiana
Five" for the Emerson label in December of 1919 in New York City.

7.
Film and Video -- I do not know of any film or video that
pre-dates Items 1 and 2 above.

For those who would like to donate or
sell evidence or other
materials relevant to Boogie Woogie research, please send inquiries to
info@nonjohn.com

I invite anyone interested in the history of Boogie Woogie to contact me at
nonjohn@nonjohn.com if they have any
information that will contribute to a more accurate Boogie Woogie database.
Moreover, I want to give credit to anyone who makes such a contribution.